Lions lead the way as Eagles’ unbeaten start ends

Monday 5th November 2018

4:02 PM

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There are new leaders at the top of the BBL Championship, while only one unbeaten records on the 2018-19 season.

Leicester Riders stopped the unbeaten start of rivals, Esh Group Eagles Newcastle with a convincing 68-84 win at Sport Central on Friday night. Rob Paternostro's side secured their second win of the league campaign with JR Holder top scoring with 19 points following their trip to Hungary.

"It was amazing for us to go out there and play the way we did," said Holder.

"Newcastle has shown they are a tough team, so to go out and get a win like that against our rivals is always a great feeling."

Things went from bad to worse on the weekend for the Eagles as Bristol Flyers recorded their first-ever league victory against Newcastle as Fred Thomas starred with 27 points on 10 of 15 shooting in an 86-73 success to move to 5-1 at the top.

London Lions then became the outright leaders of the BBL Championship after moving to a 6-1 start with an 83-86 victory on the road at Manchester Giants behind 22 points from Justin Robinson.

The Giants produced a late rally, but came up just short, despite another dominant double-double from Willie Clayton as he registered 22 points along with 22 rebounds.

DBL Sharks Sheffield enjoyed their weekend as they picked up two wins on the road as they climbed into the top four of the BBL Championship. Atiba Lyons' side had a comfortable 67-89 win against Worcester on Friday night with 22 points for Dirk Williams before they overcame Surrey Scorchers two days later for an 83-93 success as Chris Alexander top scored with 20 points and handed out six assists.

Worcester Wolves ended a losing run of seven consecutive games as they moved onto the Quarter-Finals of the BBL Cup with an 81-90 triumph at London City Royals. Robert Crawford had a team-high 22 points in the win as five players in total reached double figures to help the Wolves set up a last eight showdown with London Lions.

Meanwhile, Rashad Hassan made an immediate impact on debut for Plymouth Raiders after netting 27 points to help his side to a 72-77 comeback success away at Radisson RED Glasgow Rocks, who had led by 14 at half-time.